Voters are urged to make use of pop-up COVID-19 vaccine sites at voting stations as South Africans gear up to make their mark in Monday’s 2021 Municipal Elections.

These additional sites have been put in place as government intensifies efforts to get two-thirds of the country vaccinated by the end of the year. As of yesterday, only 30.3% of the South African population had been fully vaccinated.

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, said there will be at least 1 000 pop-up sites at various voting stations across the country. Convenience and accessibility are the two main factors behind this initiative.

Two birds with one stone

“We are targeting those areas where the uptake of vaccines has been low. We hope that people can cast their ballots and get vaccinated in one trip,” said Phaahla.

The Johnson and Johnson (J&J) single dose vaccine will be prioritised at the pop-up sites.  However, the Pfizer vaccine will be available for those who prefer it or those who need to get their second dose.

Phaahla added: “Once a person has voted, they can proceed to the COVID-19 vaccine pop-up sites to be registered and then vaccinated.”

He said these carefully placed sites wouldn’t interfere with the election process.

Grocery voucher incentive

Phaahla also announced a pilot scheme to provide those over-60 with an incentive to get vaccinated by giving them R100 grocery vouchers. These can be redeemed at Usave, Shoprite and Checkers stores. The Vooma voucher will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis and can only be redeemed using an ID or passport number.

The health minister also said that it’s too early to determine the potential risk posed by the local government elections. But, said the country would know in about two weeks if the elections doubled up as super spreader events.

#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 30,845 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 533 new cases, which represents a 1.7% positivity rate. A further 55 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,104 to date. See more here: https://t.co/QOwhcmQr0p pic.twitter.com/vEH76tlh5A

— NICD (@nicd_sa) October 28, 2021

The number of new cases over the last seven days have fallen by 22% and the number of deaths are down by 7%.

You can find your nearest vaccine site at the SA coronavirus website: https://sacoronavirus.co.za/

– Health-e News